Transferwise - painless and cheap FX and overseas purchases

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Forums › Bargains and Deals › Transferwise - painless and cheap FX and overseas purchases

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sbiddle

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#2402756 21-Jan-2020 07:48

mentor:

I'll do a bit more reading on what problem this card is trying to address as surely there has to be a need for a product like this 🙂

It's unfortunate there isn't much competition in the NZ credit card market between the big players. In most other big markets (US, UK and Australia just to name a few) there are plenty of credit card offerings that don't charge any foreign transaction fees at all. In Australia all the big banks offer such cards as the ANZ Rewards travel card.

Handle9

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#2402829 21-Jan-2020 10:27

landcruiserguy:
@sbiddle thanks for posting the calculator as it adds some hard data into the debate.

ANZ with a 0% fee to show the fx rate

Transferwise fee is included in this rate (actual rate 1.49)

ANZ with the normal 1.8% fee

Summary

Transferwise excluding fee 1.490

ANZ excluding fee 1.514

Transferwise with fee 1.500

ANZ with fee 1.541

As I said, a lot of fees are hidden in a crap FX rate.

Something seems a bit weird there. When I go to do a Forex transaction on my transferwise account it's definitely not a 1c fee.

To get usd1000 they are quoting me nzd1522 ($10.38 fee and 0.6616 rate).

I'm not sure what the difference between their Forex product and the debit card but I'd expect something similar

DimasikTurbo

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#2402848 21-Jan-2020 11:02

TF user here. Have been using their transfer service for a few years and got their card back in September.

I am using it for purchases on Amazon etc. The exchange rate for transferring money between accounts (NZD<>AUD<>USD) is the same you would see on xe.com, the fee depends on the amount you convert, but it is usually between 0.3-0.5%.

Been to Australia recently and used it to buy some tickets online for local activities. I keep almost no money at TF account and topping it up when i plan to buy something, if i know the price i check xe.com to get approximate NZD amount then transfer it over to TF.

landcruiserguy

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#2402885 21-Jan-2020 11:20

Handle9:

Something seems a bit weird there. When I go to do a Forex transaction on my transferwise account it's definitely not a 1c fee.

To get usd1000 they are quoting me nzd1522 ($10.38 fee and 0.6616 rate).

I'm not sure what the difference between their Forex product and the debit card but I'd expect something similar

Interesting. I had thought the fee was the same regardless of the transaction but it does seem to be worse if you select "Send money" as opposed to using the master card. I am wondering if "send money" includes a transaction fee to get it out of transferwise and into an overseas bank account.

Tell me what you think of these two.

It's the borderless account rate that's relevant to using the card for USD purchases off Amazon.

openmedia

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#2402977 21-Jan-2020 14:52

I used my Credit card and Transferwise card recently on a trip to OZ. I was averaging a difference of 4.5% thanks to better exchange rates and lower margins on Transferwise.

A secondary benefit is receiving or sending money off shore in different currencies.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

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